Android 17’s Best New Features: Gemini Spark, Ask Apps, Wear OS 7

Name: Android 17’s Best New Features: Gemini Spark, Ask Apps, Wear OS 7
Uploaded: 2026-09-06T14:03:43+00:00
Duration: 11 min 5 s
Channel: HowToMen

00:00Here are 12 of the most underrated features coming to Android 17 with a lot of these already

00:04being available to try out. And don't worry if you don't have Android 17 yet because

00:08most of these new features also support older versions of Android, so everyone is included.

00:14Huge thumbs up for that! The first big new feature is that circle to search cannot tell

00:18whether an image on your screen was made with AI. So if you're scrolling through social media and

00:23you come across a photo that looks a little suspicious, you can literally just circle it

00:27and ask Android if it's AI generated and it'll tell you. But even better if an image was created

00:32or edited using Gemini or other Google AI tools, circle to search can also explain what was changed

00:39in that photo. So it might say something like this image was originally taken on a pixel phone and

00:44then later edited with AI or something along those lines. It'll definitely be useful for social media.

00:49Then there's continue on which might become one of the best Android ecosystem features in years.

00:54It basically lets you continue using apps across different Android devices exactly where you left

00:59off. Kind of like Apple's handoff feature. So let's say you're reading a document on your phone and

01:05then you switch over to your tablet. Android 17 can now automatically suggest that same app

01:09right in your dock so you can jump back into that same exact document without losing your place.

01:15And what's really cool is that if the second device doesn't even have the app installed,

01:19Android can sometimes just open the web version instead. It's pretty cool.

01:23And that's just two out of the 12 best new features coming to Android 17 or even older versions.

01:28By the way, all of these were announced at Google IO 2026 which I actually got to attend in person.

01:33I spent a lot of time reviewing everything to put together this nice list for you so

01:37if you guys end up liking this video and learning a thing or two,

01:40please just drop a quick thumbs up and leave a comment. That way if this video does well,

01:45Google might invite me back next year so I can keep making videos just like this for all you guys.

01:48I know the boys got my back. Thanks guys. Also make sure you stick around to the end

01:52because I saved the best and craziest new feature coming to Android for last.

01:56Moving on, there's now a new section in Gemini called the Daily Brief and you can already try it

02:00out if you have a Google AI Plus plan or above. It's pretty similar to Samsung's Now Brief on the

02:06latest

02:06Galaxy devices. Basically, it's a personalized hub that gives you a quick summary of everything important

02:12that's happening for that day. So it can scan everything on your phone including your emails,

02:16calendar events, reminders, tasks, and more to give you a quick overview. And it can also help you

02:22out with some tasks that you have like brainstorming ideas and a lot more. So instead of opening 10

02:27different apps every morning, Gemini can just show you things that are important to you like upcoming

02:33meetings, packages arriving, deadlines, and more. Universal Car is another interesting feature that's coming to

02:39Android and it'll definitely save people a ton of money. Basically, when you're shopping online within

02:43Google, Gemini will now be right there in your cart ready to help out. It can automatically find coupons

02:49for whatever you're trying to buy, it can track price drops, and even compare prices across different

02:54sites to find you the best deals possible. But it gets way more detailed than that, like let's say you're

02:59building a custom PC and you accidentally pick incompatible parts from different websites, Gemini can catch that

03:06and let you know what's wrong before you waste your money. Or even better, let's say you have a credit

03:11card

03:11linked to your Google wallets like an Amex card, Gemini can automatically track the perks that come

03:17from your card so you can get cash back or use your points way more easily without having to remember

03:22every single benefit yourself. So online shopping is about to get a lot easier guys. From there we've got

03:28Gemini Spark and this is one of my favorite features coming to Android. Basically it turns Gemini into a

03:33full-on AI agent, meaning that you can tell your phone to do something and it'll actually handle

03:38the task for you in the background. So you could ask it to find concert tickets, book a fitness class,

03:43unsubscribe you from spam emails or even order an Uber and once you ask it Gemini will open the right

03:49apps, fill in the right details and do the research and go through all the steps automatically for you

03:55while you keep using your phone. You can even lock your phone too because Spark can run continuously on

04:00Google cloud servers in the background. Then once everything's ready, it'll notify you with the

04:05notification to confirm everything. It's pretty incredible. Now obviously this also raises some

04:10privacy concerns because Gemini Spark also needs to access a lot of your personal information to work

04:15properly, but if Google can actually pull this off the way they showed it, this could completely change

04:21how people use their phones. And to help make this all feel less confusing, Google also teased something

04:25called Android Halo during Google IO, which is apparently coming later this year. Basically it

04:31looks like Halo will give you live visual updates in the status bar whenever Gemini is working on

04:35something in the background. So if Gemini is researching something for you, booking tickets or

04:40even completing a task for you, you'll apparently see everything at the top of your screen in the

04:46status bar showing that it's actively working for you. It's pretty neat. Now before moving on,

04:51finding a good webcam isn't easy. Trust me, I've gone through a bunch. Most of them either look terrible

04:56or fall apart after a few months. Luckily I've come across the Opsbot Tiny3 who sponsored this video

05:02and honestly, it's been amazing. I mean aside from using it as a regular webcam, I can also use it

05:07as

05:07a full-on production tool for recording my YouTube videos. I mean don't get fooled by the size either,

05:12it is super tiny but it still packs a punch with a 4k PTC camera and built-in AI tracking

05:18so it follows

05:19you around and keeps you in frame. The image quality is premium too which helps you look

05:23professional in any lighting and the cherry on top is the audio. I'm recording directly from the

05:28Opsbot microphone right now and it sounds really good. The main reason for that is because it has a

05:32built-in spatial audio system so that way it sounds like I have a dedicated mic on me but I

05:37really don't.

05:38Plus it adapts to whatever environment you're in. Like if you have a blender in the background,

05:42it will still lock onto your voice and cut out any background noise. And if you're filming something much

05:47more ambient, maybe you're outside. It will actually switch to a wider mode so that way it captures

05:51the entire environment a lot more naturally. Plus it's got some built-in AI features that make

05:56recording a lot easier. Like it automatically tracks you, reframes and even responds to voice commands.

06:03Like I can just say track me and it follows me without touching anything. It makes recording feel

06:08effortless. And even within the software you can also easily adjust everything including colors and

06:13exposure. It even has a teleprompter tool too that you can overlay. It's literally the complete

06:18package for content creation. And it doesn't stop there because it also works great with other major

06:23consoles and streaming software including the Elgato Stream Deck, Switch 2 Mode, OBS and more. So yeah,

06:30it packs a bunch of awesome features in a really tiny package. You definitely need to check out the

06:34Opsbot Tiny3 webcam through the top link in the description if you want to look great in your video

06:38calls, record high quality 4k videos and sound like a professional. Okay, now back to the future

06:44of Android. There's also going to be a bunch of Google apps that have Gemini Live built right into

06:48them. Which means you'll be able to talk to your apps way more naturally instead of tapping through

06:53menus and searching for things manually. For example, it's coming to Gmail. So instead of digging through

06:58hundreds of emails yourself, you can literally just ask Gmail questions naturally like, what are the latest

07:04updates on my orders or find me the email with the PDF my boss sent me last week. And Gmail

07:10can search

07:10through everything for you in real time and bring it up. It's also coming to Google Keep too. So you'll

07:15be able to create multiple notes and reminders at once just by talking to it. And same thing with Google

07:20Docs too. You'll be able to create and edit documents just by describing what you want written,

07:25almost like you're talking to someone you hired to do the work for you. It's a really neat idea.

07:29There's also going to be a lot more apps getting these built-in Ask features. You know how Google

07:34Maps has Ask Maps where you can ask questions about your trip, restaurants, traffic, or pretty much any

07:40question that you'd like? Well now Google is bringing that same idea to just way more apps. For example,

07:46the Play Store is getting something called Ask Play. So inside most apps, you can start asking questions

07:50about it before installing. I do it all the time for games to figure out if they're pay to win

07:55or

07:55or to use them if I like to discover new apps too. Like I used it to learn about the

07:59latest

08:00KWGT widget packs. It's genuinely useful. Still though, obviously the best way to discover underrated

08:05Android apps, I have my best app series that you guys should definitely check out. I release it every

08:10month at the beginning of the first day of the month. So make sure to get subscribed so you don't

08:14miss out on that. And it doesn't stop there either because Google is also working on Ask YouTube.

08:18So instead of searching YouTube using awkward keywords, I mean you'll be able to ask full

08:23questions naturally just like you would with Gemini and then YouTube will try to pull up the

08:28most relevant videos across the platform for you. It's great. Then from there, MagicQ on the latest

08:35Google Pixels is also getting upgraded. Just to give you a reminder, that's the feature that pops up with

08:40helpful suggestions in your keyboard whenever someone asks you for something like an address,

08:44a photo or other info you might need quickly. Well now Google says that it's expanding to even more

08:51third-party apps like Snapchat and it'll also pull suggestions from apps like Google Tasks and Google

08:57Wallet as well. Plus the whole UI looks a little different now since the suggestions seem like they

09:02pop up from the bottom of the screen instead of directly in the keyboard, which could also mean that

09:08you might finally be able to use whatever keyboard you want. It's great. Google also announced Wear OS 7 for

09:14smartwatches. For starters, it'll improve battery life for all smartwatches by around 10%, which I'll

09:20absolutely take. The whole interface is also getting redesigned with new tiles that match the same

09:24widgets on your phone's home screen. Live updates too will be there so that way you can see real-time

09:29updates on your tasks or orders. And there's also an enhanced system for media controls and of course

09:35Google is also bringing even more Gemini AI features to smartwatches too. So now you'll be able to ask your

09:40watch to handle more advanced tasks, including some of those automation features I talked about

09:45earlier with Gemini Spark. So yeah, definitely cool to see Wear OS finally gain some bigger upgrades

09:50once again. Google also improved their search engine to make it more intelligent as well.

09:54So instead of typing short robotic searches, you can just type full thoughts and questions naturally

10:00because the search box itself will literally just expand as you type. Plus it'll even try to

10:05autocomplete your sentences for you with suggestions that the AI comes up with. Now the craziest new

10:11feature that I can't wait to try out on Android is something called Information Agents within Google

10:15Search. Basically, you can tell Google Search to continuously monitor the internet for something in

10:20the background 24-7. So let's say you're apartment hunting and you want a place under a certain price

10:26with specific requirements. Google can continuously scan listings for you and notify you once something

10:33matches. Or maybe you want alerts the second the stocks you're investing in have a major spike.

10:39Search can now track that stuff for you automatically for days on end. It's really incredible and

10:44absolutely something I'm going to use. So there you have it, 12 of the best new features announced at

10:48Google I.O. that are coming to your Android soon or are already here too. If you want to keep

10:52watching,

10:53type this video to learn about everything that's already found in Android 17 so far. And again,

10:57if you learned anything new, a quick thumbs up would be great. Thanks so much for sticking around to the

11:01end

11:01and I'll catch you guys in the next one. Kapow!

Android 17’s Best New Features: Gemini Spark, Ask Apps, Wear OS 7

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